


oh my friends (i am heavy)

by dunkindonts



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Health Issues, Team as Family, me giving an emotionally stunted elf love, through character that don't quite know how
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 11:09:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10898118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dunkindonts/pseuds/dunkindonts
Summary: “Are you washing my dishes?”Magnus looks up from where he’s elbow-deeps in suds, “What, don’t tell me you were planning on doing them.”“Nope.” Taako pops the P aggressively and clambers up on the counter, managing to make folding his lanky limbs into the cramped space between granite and cupboard seem graceful. “Sooo, what’s up with Maggie?”





	oh my friends (i am heavy)

**Author's Note:**

> hello. i have a lot of feelings about taako taaco and how he needs comfort but would be really resistant to obvious methods of comfort :^) each interaction is loosely based on one of the five love languages see if u can figure out which is which hueuehee
> 
> timeline what timeline 
> 
> if u want more info about the self-harm tag jump to the end notes. stay safe dudes
> 
> also y'all i love kravtiz but bc of the small actual amounts of interaction we get any way i tried to include him just didn't feel genuine
> 
> title and italics at the beginning from [my friends by oh wonder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ypofGDdHpo)

_can i beat within your heart  
can i bleed within your love_

 

_i. angus_

Taako wakes to his mess of a room scattered in a glow from a flickering mage light and Angus McDonald’s focused frown inches from his face.

“Ango.” The scorching ray prepped at his fingertips fizzles out. “I could’ve killed you, kid.”

“Sorry, sir.”

The kid sits back on his heels, the mage light in his hands blinking erratically. Taako sighs and pushes himself up into a sitting position, coaxing his own light to life in his hands. “What’s up, Agnes?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” He says it all in one breath, words piling up on top of each other. “I apologize if it is, in fact, something you don’t want to talk about, but I’m concerned and –“

Taako resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Spit it out, bubbeleh.”

“Are you depressed, sir?”

“What.”

“I’ve read up on the symptoms of depression after I took note of a few of your recurring behaviors and now that it’s summer you’re wearing less layers and I’ve seen some scarring from injuries I can only assume were self-inflicted.”

“Wow.” Taako’s light flickers and he curses himself in his head for showing his emotions so freely. That’s what gets you killed. “Perceptive of you, Ango.”

“I am the world’s greatest detective, sir.”

“Quit it, with the sir shit.” God why are his lungs so damn tight right now. “I’m Taako, okay? Just Taako.”

“You haven’t answered me, si – Taako.” Angus says quietly. “Are you okay?”

Just take a fucking breath. In. Out.

“Sure am, Ango. I’m functioning, aren’t I?”

He wrinkles his nose a little and – god dammit – it’s kind of adorable. “That’s not really reassuring.”

“Listen, Taako’s got the whole Taako Situation under control, okay?” “Don’t worry about me.”

Angus’s eyes kind of well up and he gives a little shake of his head. “I don’t think it’s that easy.”

“I know, kid.” And Taako thinks _fuck it_ and lets his mage light blink out of existence before pulling Angus into his arms. He pats the kid’s fluffy hair awkwardly, ignores the sniffling that seems louder in the dark. “I know.”

 

_ii. merle_

Merle corners him the one day to shove something lumpy and soft into his stomach.

“The fuck, old man?” The thing in his arms is warm and kind of fuzzy and _shit it’s not alive is it_? “What is this?”

“It’s a sweater. You wear it.” The old dwarf’s voice is at a nearly unintelligible level of gravel low.

“You bought me a sweater?”

“I made you a sweater.” Merle’s voice drops even lower as dots of pink rise in his cheeks.

“Uh, okay, dude. Why?”

“You’re too skinny, kid.” He ducks his head. “Cold’ll freeze you as is. Gotta keep warm somehow.”

And then he’s shoving past Taako and out of their shared living quarters, leaving the elf wondering what the fuck just happened.

(Taako won’t tell Merle, but the sweater is warm and soft and maybe his favorite thing to sleep in. He won’t tell Merle.)

 

_iii. lucretia_

“Next week, Ango. Same time, don’t be late.”

“I’m not the one that’s consistently late, sir.”

He waits until Angus is around the corner before mumbling _smartass_ under his breath.

“I heard that.” The Director’s voice is quiet, but Taako still just about jumps out of his skin. How high was that stealth check?

“How long’ve you been there?”

She lifts one shoulder a fraction of an inch in a stiff imitation of a shrug. “Long enough.”

He scowls. “Not really an answer.” 

“You’re good with him.” She says, nodding toward the corner around which Angus just disappeared.

“I’m not one for kids, Lucretia.”

“Don’t call me that.” Her grip on her staff tightens minutely. “And don’t deflect. Take the compliment. You deserve it.”

“Uh. Okay.” Being civil. He’s not exactly, well, good at that. “Thanks?”

He thinks if she wasn’t dead-set on maintaining her stoic exterior, she might be grinning now. “You’re welcome, Taako.”

 

_iv. magnus_

“Are you washing my dishes?”

Magnus looks up from where he’s elbow-deeps in suds, “What, don’t tell me you were planning on doing them.”

“Nope.” Taako pops the P aggressively and clambers up on the counter, managing to make folding his lanky limbs into the cramped space between granite and cupboard seem graceful. “Sooo, what’s up with Maggie?”

“Besides washing your dishes?”

His heels knock against the lower cupboard doors in a shitty imitation of boredom. “Duh.”

“Been thinking about trying to learn how to carve something other than ducks.”

Taako cackles. “Good luck with that.”

For a moment there’s just the jutting staccato beat of Taako beating the hell out of their cupboards and Magnus’s focused breathing as he tries his best to intimidate a grease stain out of a, frankly doomed, frying pan.

“You good, Taako?”

The kicking stutters for a moment. “I’m fine.”

“You know, if you want to –“

“Said I’m fine, Mags.” The heel of his boot misses the wood of the door and clangs off the hinges. The pan in Magnus’s hands slips and crashes into the basin of the sink. Taako doesn’t hide his flinch well, but Mangus lets him believe he did. “What else do you want?”

Magnus shakes his head and the water that splashed up drips from his sideburns. “Help with these dishes, maybe.”

Taako snorts out a laugh, fully intending to say no but something in Magnus’s eyes stops him. He slides off the counter, stretching out like a freed spring once his feet touch the floor.

“I’ll put them away.” He snaps and points when Magnus smiles. “Don’t get any ideas, hombre. This is it, for all time.”

Magnus just turns his grin to the dishes.

 

_v. lup_

Deep, deep in the static of a painted-over memory, Taako’s barely-older sister holds a cloth filled with ice against his black eye.

“You wanna talk about it?”

He shakes just thinking about it. “Not really.”

“Okay, bro. C’mere.” She shifts their positions just slightly, so he can hide the relatively uninjured side of his face in her shoulder.

They both pretend they can’t feel the tears that soak the fabric of her sweater.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!
> 
> the self-harm tag refers to the first section where angus confronts taako about his depression and scars
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/hopewhirl) | [tumblr](https://transvityaa.tumblr.com)


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